Growing and Giving: A Gratifying Experience

Meet Pete Lawrence of the Queen Anne P-Patch.

Pete is one of those amazing people who seem to have boundless stores of energy. He is quick to volunteer for large-scale projects at the garden, such as pruning and spreading woodchips, and puts in many hours each season caring and tending the Giving Garden plot.

Last year, under Pete’s leadership, the Queen Anne P-Patch Giving Garden donated over 1200 pounds of produce! The vegetables go to The Lord's Table, a local meal program that serves hot dinners on the streets of downtown Seattle.

After growing up in Seattle, Pete moved to Oregon for work, where he became certified as a Master Gardener through the Oregon State University Extension program. When he moved back to Seattle in 2003, he got a plot at the Queen Anne P-Patch and became involved with the Giving Garden.

When asked why he grows for giving, he responds simply that it is satisfying. It's satisfying to grow the vegetables. And it’s satisfying to share the vegetables he grew with people who really need them.

Pete finds his work in the Giving Garden a gratifying experience. The Lord's Table meal program feeds up to 200 people per night, so Pete knows that the produce from the Queen Anne P-Patch is definitely going to good use!

Over the past ten years, interest in the Giving Garden at the Queen Anne P-Patch has ebbed and flowed, but Pete has returned year after year and is always happy to see new gardeners take up the cause.

Many young couples and families garden at the Queen Anne P-Patch. The community created around the Giving Garden allows for different generations to work together, growing food to share with those in need.

Thank you to Pete and all of the amazing Giving Gardeners out there!

~ Mariah Pepper, Harvest Coordinator

Cooking at the Farm: Herbed-Tofu Tacos

Some of Lettuce Link's interns and volunteers will be guest blogging for us over the next few months. Today, we welcome the words of Molly Bell, a UW student and Lettuce Link spring intern.

There’s something about cooking fresh food that gets every sense tingling. Recently the second graders of Concord International Elementary had the chance to experience this sensory adventure, watching vegetables grown at the farm transform into a delicious snack.

In Lettuce Link’s children’s garden and nutrition classes, we try to connect the dots between how food is grown, prepared and cooked. Plus, it’s fun. If food doesn’t excite a kid, I don’t know what will!

So, with great excitement and a little team effort, the second graders harvested chives and other herbs. The students then helped clean, cut, prepare, and mix all the ingredients necessary for herbed-tofu tacos.

While preparing snack, we all had a chance to talk and share stories. There was a unanimous love for cooking among my group. I noticed pride and a sense of accomplishment that the students had when talking about cooking. A few bragged that they had made dinner or even made cupcakes by themselves.

It’s a good reminder that something when you’re eight (or eighty), something as simple as cooking a meal can be such a triumph!

At the end of class, all the students had a chance to rate the tofu tacos on a scale: happy, neutral, or sad face. I was pleasantly surprised how many of them liked it, since tofu was a new food for many of the students.

The ratings also included a few neutral faces and a few sad faces as well. But that’s okay – as we tell the students, everyone has different tastes. It’s good that the students were willing to express their own opinions, given that kids are often swayed by their peers when deciding what they like or don’t like.

It can be challenging to get kids to make their own decisions and also try new foods. But when they’re involved in harvesting and preparing it, they develop a certain connection and pride.

Plus, the diversity of food grown at Marra Farm makes it easy and fun to try new things. I’m excited to keep cooking with the students this spring!

A Spring to Remember

Some of Lettuce Link's interns and volunteers will be guest blogging for us over the next few months. Today, we welcome the words of Rachel Sofferin, a children's garden and nutrition education volunteer.

Spring seems to have been beckoned to Seattle early this year, and when Mr. Hunt’s fourth and fifth grade students from neighboring Concord International Elementary filed into to Lettuce Link’s Children’s Garden at Marra Farm last month for their first day of hands on learning, the day seemed ripe for it.

Still a little cool, breezy, and slightly overcast in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood, the rain held off long enough to allow for students to leave their rain jackets behind. Excited faces gathered in opening circle on a grassy, dandelion filled patch of earth to meet their garden teachers: Amelia, Glenn, Michelle, Rachel, and Sue.

Before their visit to the farm, the students had been divided into gardening groups and came up with questions for the experiments that they would be conducting in the garden. The group of four that I am leading, The Incredible Crew, decided to run their experiment on the effects of darkness on plant growth.

To start we had to prepare the garden bed: weeding, turning the soil, adding compost, and - “Eww! Look! There’s a worm!” - discovering the slimy and squiggly worms that make the soil fertile. Students masterfully shoveled compost and maneuvered wheelbarrows though the garden and used child-sized pitchforks to turn the soil.

After the beds were prepared it was time to plant, accompanied by ongoing chatter about worms and other critters in the soil. Rows of starts and seeds - bok choy, beets, onions, and peas - were pushed into the soil by small hands wearing oversized gardening gloves.

In neighboring garden beds, other planted their experiments as well: seeds cut in half, seeds watered excessively, planted in sand, water or in close proximity, and even some watered with lemonade. We planted each bed with an experimental and a control group for determining the effects of the experimental conditions on plant growth.

After what seemed like a quick minute, the 45-minute class was over and it was time to round up the students for their return to school.

I think I might be more excited about the learning at Marra Farm than the students. The hands-on learning that the Lettuce Link program of Solid Ground offers at the farm is fantastic. Kids are able to apply what they are learning in other areas of science, social studies, and history. They run garden experiments using all of the tools of a scientist, learn about nutrition and cooking, and even the history of the area and the native Duwamish people.

These kinds of applied learning experiences are the ones that stay with a student long into adulthood. This is going to be a spring to remember!

We're Hiring: Join Lettuce Link as an AmeriCorps Member!

Are you passionate about farming, food security, and garden education? Come join the Lettuce Link team through the Apple Corps AmeriCorps position. 

Apply through the AmeriCorps website.

Dates of Service

September 1, 2013 – July 15, 2014

Position Description 

Help Lettuce Link expand the availability of fresh, locally grown produce in food banks by developing systems and support that enable more community members to participate at our urban farms in meaningful and relevant ways.

Promote food security and gardening through outreach events in the community and local schools, food banks and working at our urban farms. Typical job duties include: 

• Farming organically at Marra Farm and the Seattle Community Farm, leading volunteer work parties, and coordinating neighborhood volunteers 
• Teaching elementary school-aged children about nutrition and gardening at the farms 
• Assisting limited-income Seattle residents grow their own food by distributing seeds, plant starts and gardening and nutrition information at food banks 
• Serving with community volunteers and donors to increase funding and in-kind donations to promote the sustainability of Lettuce Link
• Writing blog posts, using other social media, and tabling at outreach events 
• Documenting work and tracking data 

Desired qualifications

• Interest in food justice 
• Knowledge of gardening, community outreach and/or teaching 
• The ability to interact well with people from various cultures, ethnicities and races and a commitment to challenge institutional racism 
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, and including speaking in front of groups 
• Able to effectively function as a member of a team 
• Basic knowledge of Microsoft computer programs and internet research skills 
• Detail oriented, strong organizational skills, and able to multi-task and work under pressure 
• Bachelor’s degree or a combination of education, volunteer, and work experience that demonstrates ability to perform position duties 
• Proficiency in Spanish, Vietnamese, Cantonese or other foreign language spoken by recent immigrants to Seattle highly desirable, but not required 
• Reliable transportation preferred 

Requirements

• Driver’s license 
• Physically able to work outdoors in all weather 
• Able to lift up to 50 pounds, reach, bend, push, pull, walk up to ½ mile, squat, and kneel 

Compensation

• Modest living allowance, health care, and childcare 
• Bus pass or mileage reimbursement 
• Education award upon successful completion of service 
• Fresh, seasonal vegetables 

Applications are accepted until June 3, 2013. Apply today to join Lettuce Link!

For a list of all available Apple Corps positions, go the AmeriCorps search page, and under "Program Name" enter "Apple Corps." 

Marra Farm: Initial Reflections from an Intern

Some of Lettuce Link's interns and volunteers will be guest blogging for us over the next few months. Today, we welcome the words of Molly Bell, a UW student and Lettuce Link spring intern.

Nestled among the warehouses, machines, and houses in South Park is a hidden field of hope, a sign of resilience. Marra Farm hides like a secret weapon, rebelling against the issues created by our industrial food system.

Upon first arriving at Marra Farm, my first impression was amazement at the size of this hidden gem. How can four acres of land produce over 22,000 pounds of food, sustain, and run itself within the city boundaries?

My question was quickly answered as I grabbed a pair of gloves and a trowel alongside ten or so other volunteers. Whether people come to improve their own food security, gain gardening experience, or to have a team-building experience with their co-workers, Marra Farm is meticulously tended and cared for by these relentless volunteers. On a rainy Saturday morning, I was astonished by how much a dozen hard workers could accomplish.

Since the growing season has only just begun, most of the tasks around the farm are based on preparing the beds for planting and planting the little vegetable starts grown in the greenhouses.

Preparing beds is one of the most labor-intensive farm chores, in my opinion. It requires pulling out the plants that have over-wintered in the beds, removing weeds, tilling the soil, adding compost and sometimes even building a trellis.

One volunteer commented that it was weird to go to a farm that is so full of life, just to remove from the soil all the plants, even if they are weeds! However, the favoritism for vegetables instead of dandelions is what allows Marra Farm to have such abundant summer harvests.

Another amazing aspect of Lettuce Link and Marra Farm are the programs that educate local children about nutrition, cooking, and health. Hands-on learning is becoming recognized as an essential component of environmental and traditional education.

The children I help teach are second graders from Concord International Elementary School. The students are so fortunate that their school is located next door to Marra Farm. Although school gardens and farm-to-school programs are growing, most schools do not have a farm two blocks away!

I have been thrilled to see how good-spirited and intrigued the second graders are at the farm. For the first class, we had them plant their own small gardens.

There were some challenges, like the cold and rainy weather, and trying to keep the students on track when they are so excited to be outside. However, I found it refreshing to watch the students would stop whatever they were doing to peer down and look at a bug.

Their contagious excitement over the wonders of nature is a good reminder to us adults that we need to slow down and look around. I am excited to work with this group of young learners the rest of the spring. It will be fun to watch them learn and grow as they plant and maintain their personal gardens.

Marra Farm is a place filled with life and so much hope. As I spend more time there this spring, I’m excited to see the garden evolve and learn about how community farms and gardens help combat the the negative consequences produced by our current food system.

Fourth Grade Cooks!

Since November 2012, Lettuce Link has staffed an educator position at Concord International Elementary in South Park. This position has worked in collaboration with an Apple Corps AmeriCorps member to teach hands-on nutrition education in classrooms and at nearby Marra Farm. Our presence at Concord has expanded how Lettuce Link improves access to fresh produce: not simply growing it, but through sharing and building skills in preparing food.

However, the most recent series of classes at Concord hasn't been taught by us, Concord teachers, local chefs, or adults in the community. In fact, the teachers aren't even elementary school graduates.

Fourth Grade Cooks: A Kid-led Community Kitchen

Thanks to a grant from the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, this spring Lettuce Link began coordinating a monthly community kitchen at Concord, where students instruct their families and teachers in preparing simple, nutritious, and affordable recipes.

Community kitchens are bubbling up all across Seattle, with the common creed that food is better when shared and that we all have something to learn in the kitchen.

How it Works

1. Students create a three-course menu by voting for their favorite recipes out of all the ones they prepared during their nutrition classes the past year.


2. Cristina Rebellon, Apple Corps nutrition educator, and Amelia Swinton, Lettuce Link education coordinator, assign a role to each fourth grader - chef, nutrition teacher, or server. Students change roles each month.


3. The chefs practice cooking the recipe, the servers decorate a bilingual menu and prepare some information about the food’s history or country of origin, and the nutrition teachers review the food groups and nutrients contained within the meal. Each group gives a practice presentation and receives feedback from their peers. For example, the chefs might hear, “Please add more salt to this dish next time!” or the nutrition teachers might be informed that “We would like more information about the vitamins in this salad.” 


4. Once the students have practiced their parts in this culinary orchestra and are ready to lead, they gather in the evening with their families and teachers and prepare a meal for everyone to share.

Youth Leadership in Action

This project exemplifies the importance of Solid Ground’s anti-racism work. Within Lettuce Link’s department, the Hunger Action Center, we organize as a “Change Team” to examine how our work perpetuates racism and oppression. We then work to interrupt and transform these dynamics within our programs.

Amplifying community voice and leadership is an ongoing goal of our department. By asking Fourth Grade Cooks students to teach their peers and families, we help to not only build their skills in nutrition and cooking, but also develop them as young leaders in the community.

Come Join Us!

Want to see what Fourth Grade Cooks is all about? Adult helpers are appreciated, especially as dishwashers! The next kitchen will take place on Friday, May 10, from 5:30–8:00pm. Contact Amelia, amelias@solid-ground.org, for details.

Many thanks to the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition for helping fund this project! This grant has also seeded several other new Lettuce Link projects at Marra Farm, including the formation of a community-run chicken cooperative, family work parties in the children’s garden, and a summer, outdoor community kitchen focused on improvising with seasonal produce. Learn about the other grantees.

Community kitchens take many different forms. Within South Park, for example, there are two other community kitchens: one geared towards teens (modeled after the FEEST program), and one tailored to Latina mothers. Find a community kitchen in your neighborhood.

Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup

as prepared by Fourth Grade Cooks  

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons brown sugar
6 cups green cabbage, shredded
8-oz can crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 cups water
4 cups low-salt chicken or vegetable broth
Salt to taste (optional)
Black pepper to taste
Plain yogurt (optional)

1. Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are soft.
2. Stir in brown sugar and cabbage. Cook for 5 minutes, or until cabbage is soft.
3. Add tomatoes, vinegar, water and broth; bring to a boil.
4. Season with salt, if desired. Add pepper to taste. Lower heat and simmer about 20 minutes, uncovered, or until cabbage is tender.
5. Adjust seasonings, if necessary, by adding more brown sugar or vinegar. Serve with a spoonful of plain yogurt on top.

Makes 8 servings

Future farmers and foodies are back on the farm!

Our good friends and future farmers are back, and this time out on the farm! Ms. Betts' third grade class didn't skip a beat -- they hauled compost in wheelbarrows, pulled weeds, and turned bed after bed of cover crop into the soil.

Only pausing for a brief moment to eat lunch, they managed to move compost to every bed in the greenhouse, turn seven beds of over-wintered peas, and weed in the children's garden. I challenged them to find the longest roots they possibly could while they were pulling grass from the beds, and I was impressed by their determination. Using trowels, they dug deeper and deeper until they could pull out the entire root system.

Throughout the afternoon we discovered and were delighted by the many worms. We took a moment to discuss the myth of worms being able to regrow after they are cut in half and tried to "see" the world through a worm's perspective.

Closing the day, Ms. Betts gathered her students in a circle to discuss the importance of the work they did.  Her students wanted to be a part of the entire process - from seed packing, to getting the beds ready to plant, to harvesting, and everything in between. And what a help they are!

Thanks again to this intrepid third grade class for their hard work, and we look forward to their future visits to Marra Farm this spring!

~ Mandy, Apple Corps Member with Lettuce Link